


Planet 15: Earth

by purpleeyesandbowties



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018), Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Adora and co. visit Earth, Crossover, Culture Clashes, F/F, and find the Crystal Gems and co., but not enough that i'm going to tag them and clog up that pairing's tags, minor mentions of other canon relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-25
Updated: 2020-05-25
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:47:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24376732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/purpleeyesandbowties/pseuds/purpleeyesandbowties
Summary: The Best Friend Squad has brought magic back to fourteen planets over the past year, but the fifteenth planet they land on, Earth, seems to already have magic. And that's not even the oddest part of it.
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Connie Maheswaran/Steven Universe
Comments: 11
Kudos: 173





	Planet 15: Earth

**Author's Note:**

> I don't typically write crossovers, but this one seemed both plausible and fun. enjoy!

The Best Friend Squad had been traveling around the galaxy, bringing magic back to planets and systems for nearly a year when they landed on a planet that seemed, above all else, normal. There were people and animals and plant life—though the animals were much less deadly than they were on Etheria—and it had different technology than they had, but no less advanced. Entrapta had quickly given the all-clear for atmosphere, so Bow, Glimmer, Adora, and Catra left the ship to do some reconnaissance and hopefully introduce themselves to the inhabitants of the planet, dressed in their normal Etherian clothes. They’d landed near the ocean, by a small town. There was a giant stone statue of a woman that Entrapta had picked up on—it gave off some sort of powerful energy reading that nearly had the princess swooning.

“Get ahold of yourself,” Catra had told her, hand on her shoulder to keep her from leaping out of the ship. “You can investigate it when we get permission from the rulers of this planet.”

“You’re no fun,” Entrapta had whined, but then she got distracted by her daily check-in with Hordak, so Adora knew they had at least an hour before her curiosity overruled her sense of preservation. An hour to find whoever was in charge, explain themselves, and figure out how to return magic to this world. No problem.

“You seem tense,” Catra said, sliding up behind Adora and putting an arm around her waist. 

“Just tired,” Adora said. “I’m hoping this planet is more open to the idea of magic than the last few.”

Catra nodded her agreement. Together, they walked out of the ship and joined Glimmer and Bow on the sands of the beach. The town was maybe half a mile away, and they started walking towards it, making idle conversation about the plant and animal life they saw. About halfway to their goal, a young woman ran up to meet them. She was about their age, with short black hair and a truly enormous sword strapped across her back. Adora perked up immediately and she could feel Catra rolling her eyes beside her.

“Hello!” The woman called, waving. Adora jogged a few steps closer, waving as well. 

“Hello. I’m Adora. We’re looking for the person in charge here. We have an important message of peace and an offer of help for them.”

“Is that a spaceship?” the woman asked, pointing at Darla. Adora folded her arms.

“Yeah, it is.”

Rather than looking scared or panicked, as many people on other planets did when Adora and her crew first arrived, the woman looked interested and a little excited. Her eyes locked on Catra’s ears, and while her eyes got slightly wider, she didn’t say anything about them. Instead, she said, “Is this Gem stuff? Wait, before that: what are your feelings about Pink Diamond? Rose Quartz?”

“Uh,” Adora said. “None? None, right?” She said, looking to her friends. Glimmer shrugged. Bow said, “Is that a person?”

“Maybe it’s a Runestone,” Glimmer said.

“Okay, then, no threat,” the woman said. She smiled, then, bright and cheerful, and stuck out her hand. “I’m Connie. You’re probably going to want to talk to Steven.”

“Who’s Steven?” Bow asked, shaking Connie’s hand. “I’m Bow by the way. This is Adora, like she said, and that’s Catra and Glimmer.”

Now, as with most cases, they held out on titles like “princess” or “queen” until they had a better sense of where they were—better to seem like more of a pack of explorers than royals. Connie nodded at each of them, pulling a small device out of her pocket. To Bow she said, “Steven is my boyfriend. He’s kind of the expert about alien stuff. Let me just call him quick.”

She turned her body away slightly, putting the device up to her ear. After a few seconds she said, “Hey! Steven, there’s, uh, a spaceship situation just outside of Beach City. Seems friendly. Humanoid. Hmm? Uh, I can’t tell. Not that I can see, but one of them is definitely colorful enough to be a Gem. And there’s one with cat ears and a tail. The other two just look like humans.”

She glanced at the group. “Yeah, they have weapons—bow and arrow, staff, that kind of thing.”

“We’re on a mission of peace,” Glimmer whispered loudly, giving Connie a thumbs-up. Connie returned the gesture and continued her conversation. 

“I hate to bother you with this but they wanted to talk to someone in charge. Should I invite the Gems? Okay, sure, if it’s not a problem. See you soon. Love you too!”

She slipped the device back in her pocket and tucked her hair behind her ears.

“Steven will be here soon. In the meantime, why don’t you take a seat and we can talk?”

She sat down on the sand and Adora did the same. Glimmer and Bow sat on either side of her. Catra remained standing.

“You okay?” Adora asked. Catra wrinkled her nose. “Sand. Fur. Not a good combination.”

“You are ridiculous,” Adora said fondly. She pulled Catra down into her lap, keeping her off the sand. Catra yelped in surprise but soon relaxed. She leaned against Adora’s chest, purring softly. Connie hid a grin behind her hand—Glimmer and Bow didn’t bother hiding theirs. Connie shook her head, becoming serious again. “So…you guys are aliens.”

“We’re from another planet, yes,” Glimmer said. She touched her collarbone, where a small necklace of moonstone sat. “Etheria. We’ve been traveling around the universe, bringing help to every planet we can. And now we’re here! Which is….what, exactly?”

“Oh, Earth. Welcome! You’ll find most people here are at least used to the idea of aliens. We have a bunch of them living here already. So, what kind of help are you offering? And are you Gems?”

“What are Gems?” Adora asked. She’d caught the word several times since meeting Connie, and she spoke as if Adora should know what she was talking about.

Connie frowned. “You really don’t know about the Gems? Homeworld? The tyrannical rule of the Diamonds?”

“The only tyrant we know of is Horde Prime and we defeated him ages ago,” Glimmer said. 

“We haven’t heard of any Horde Prime here. But, seriously, if you guys aren’t Gems, what are you doing here?”

She seemed genuinely confused, like she couldn’t fathom that the aliens visiting her planet were not the aliens she was used to seeing. Not exactly the reaction they got upon arrival.

Adora straightened up (as much as she could with a lap full of Catra) and said in her most princess voice, “We are a delegation from the planet of Etheria. I am She-Ra, the legendary warrior. My friends and I have been traveling across the universe, restoring magic to each planet we can.”

She touched her chest, allowing the symbol of the Heart’s Failsafe to glow. “I hold part of Etheria’s magic inside me. I can return it to Earth, if that is something your planet wants.”

Connie had been listening, enraptured, during Adora’s explanation. She nodded, impressed, at the show of magic. Then she smiled like she was in on a joke that Adora didn’t know.

“Well, that’s very noble of you, but I’m afraid you’ve wasted a trip. Earth already has all the magic it needs.”

“Really?” Catra said. Bow pulled out his pad and frowned. “I’m not picking up any magic on my tracker pad. Not Etherian or First Ones magic, anyway.”

“That’s because magic comes from the Gems, here.”

“Oh!” Glimmer exclaimed. She touched her necklace again, and this time it gave her enough spark to summon some light. “We have those on Etheria! See? This is a fragment of Bright Moon’s moonstone, the Runestone that gives me my powers. That’s a gem!”

Connie cocked her head. “I don’t think we’re talking about the same thing right now.”

“What are you talking about, then?” Glimmer asked. Before Connie could answer, there was a sound behind the small group. A circular pink portal opened in the air and a giant pink lion came bursting through. It landed hard on the sand, skidding to a stop not far from Connie, and there was a man sitting on its back. Connie shot to her feet. The man whooped with joy and slid off the lion’s back. He scooped Connie up in his arms and spun her around. When he put her down, she kissed him happily, then hugged him. 

“Welcome back, Steven. Thanks for coming. Sorry for interrupting your road trip.”

“Of course,” the man said tenderly. He kissed Connie once more and patted the lion on the head. “Go get Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl, okay?” 

The lion made a deep sound in its chest, roared, and vanished into an identical portal, sans rider. The man—this was the alien expert, Steven, obviously—turned to the group with his hands on his hips. Catra stood and helped Adora to her feet, her tail flicking nervously. This man was so full of confidence. She didn’t appreciate anyone—but especially strangers—underestimating her and her friends. Adora squeezed her hand, knowing what was unsettling Catra and wishing she could do more to comfort her.

“So! Aliens!” Steven said, clapping his hands together once. “I’m an alien, too. Well, half. On my mother’s side.”

“Nice to meet you,” Bow said. He was the first to shake Steven’s hand, but Adora was quick to follow, then Glimmer. Catra just folded her arms and looked away, her tail flicking.

“I’m sure you’ve already talked about some of this stuff with Connie, but can you catch me up? What are you here for?”

“Magic,” Glimmer said. “We have it. We can give it to you. Connie says you don’t need it. Of all the planets we’ve visited, yours is the first with organic magic.”

Steven laughed. “Yeah, we have magic here, but it’s about as far from organic as you can get.”

He lifted his shirt, revealing a large pink crystal embedded into his stomach. He tapped it with his free hand. “All the magic we have on Earth comes from Gems. I’m the only half-organic Gem alive. The other Gems are fully inorganic. You’ll see when the Crystal Gems get here. They should be here any minute….”

Just then, the lion’s portal reappeared and so did the lion, carrying three colorful individuals on its back. Steven greeted the three with a giant group hug, which they enthusiastically returned.

“Come meet some new aliens,” Steven said, dragging the tallest of the three over. Connie piped up, “They’re from a place called Etheria and they’ve never even heard of Gems. Or Homeworld! Not even the Diamonds!”

“Really?” the thin pink-haired one said. 

“This is Pearl,” Steven said. She curtseyed to the group, which Glimmer and Bow returned with bows of their own. Steven pointed to the smaller purple-skinned one. “That’s Amethyst.”

“Heya,” Amethyst said, flicking her fingers in a casual wave. The tallest one was staring at Adora behind a visor. “I’m Garnet,” she said, then, “you’re….more than one person.”

Adora blinked. “Yeah, I guess I am.”

“A fusion?” Connie asked eagerly.

“W-what’s a fusion?” Adora asked, looking around. Glimmer shrugged, so obviously it wasn’t something Adora should have known about.

Garnet said, “I’m a fusion.” Then her entire body glowed and shrunk, separating into two forms. Two small people, holding hands, appeared when Garnet had been—one red, one blue. The blue one said, “Garnet is a fusion of myself and Ruby. We’re two gems, joined together in a celebration of love.”

“Cool,” Adora breathed, knowing her eyes were sparkling. Unconsciously, she leaned in toward Catra. More than once, she had wished they were a way to get closer to Catra, even as they were pressed so close together neither could tell where one ended and the one started. To be literally one person sounded…..weird, but cool. Catra wrapped her tail around Adora’s ankle, a quiet moment of affection. The two gems joined together again—fused—and Garnet stood in front of them again.

“That’s so cool,” Adora said. “I can’t do that, though.”

“What can you do?” Steven asked. 

Catra groaned theatrically. “Come on, don’t give her a reason to show off.”

Glimmer threw an arm over Catra’s neck, pulling her down. “Oh, let her do it. Come on, Adora, they want to meet She-Ra!”

To the group of strangers, Glimmer said conspiratorially, “Catra gets jealous of She-Ra.”

“I do not!” Catra growled, wiggling out of Glimmer’s hold. Adora, in the meantime, had raised her hand and let the sword materialize in her hand.

_“Wow,”_ Connie said, eyes glued to the sword. Adora raised it above her head and said, in her strongest princess voice, “For the honor of Grayskull!”

There was the customary flash of light, and she felt herself grow stronger and taller, her hair get longer and brighter, and her crown settle on her head. She-Ra stood in front of them, power-posed to the best of her ability. The golden glow hung around for a few seconds longer than usual, maybe sensing that Adora wanted to show off, just a little. Now she was of a height with Garnet. She slung the sword across her back. “How did you know I was someone else?” She-Ra asked. 

Garnet adjusted her visor.“I can see the future, or possible futures. I saw Adora turn into you, but I couldn’t see how or why. I don’t meet many other fusions, so I was curious. But yours is an entirely different type of magic than what we have here.”

“And you guys are nothing like what we have back home,” She-Ra said. “What else can Gems do?”

“We have weapons like your sword,” Steven offered. He summoned a pink shield on his arm. Garnet manifested two gauntlets, Pearl pulled a staff out of her forehead, and Amethyst yanked a whip from her chest.

“Huh,” Glimmer said. “That’s….interesting.”

“We can also shapeshift,” Amethyst said, and her body stretched into a purple rendition of a fluffy-haired cat woman. Catra hissed in surprise at her copy and dashed behind She-Ra. She emerged a second later, blushing and angry. That made She-Ra grin. 

She-Ra admitted, “I’m kind of a one-hit wonder. I’m very strong and a good fighter, and I can heal damaged nature and some types of damaged magic and tech. And people, but only sometimes.”

“And _I_ can do this!” Glimmer said cheerfully. She grabbed Connie’s arm and teleported them both across the beach.

“Whoa!” Steven shouted. Glimmer teleported them back to where they started.

“Are like like She-Ra? Where’s your sword?” Connie asked, breathless.

“No, I’m a princess. Well, queen, technically, but—”

“You’re a queen?” Connie said.

“Queen Glimmer of Bright Moon,” Bow said proudly. 

“What can you do?” Steven asked. Bow shrugged.

“I’m an archer. I don’t have powers—I’m not a princess or anything. Neither is Catra.”

“You keep saying ‘princess’ like it means something,” Pearl observed.

“Do you not have princesses here?” Bow asked.

Slowly, Connie said, “We…do. There are some countries that have monarchs, but I have a feeling you’re operating on a different definition of 'princess' than we are.”

Glimmer said, “In Etheria, princesses are in charge of protecting lands. Yes, they’re part of monarchies, but there’s a lot of kingdoms and lots of princesses. Princesses have inherent magic, usually tied to a Runestone. Most others on Etiheria that want to use magic must learn to manipulate natural magic through sorcery. Like this,” she said, creating a spell array in the air. It manifested a bundle of Etherian flowers, which she caught and then offered to Steven. He took them, examining them closely with a smile on his face. 

“I was born a princess, inheriting my power from my mother Queen Angella,” Glimmer said proudly. “But my father, King Micah, is a sorcerer. I can do both types of magic. My Runestone is back on Etheria, but She-Ra and the Failsafe have enough Etherian magic to keep me powered up pretty much all the time.”

“Huh,” said Steven. “My magic comes from my gemstone—I also inherited it from my mom, Rose Quartz. I guess it’s like your Runestone, but I carry mine around in my body.”

Pearl said, “And you, Miss She-Ra? Do you have a Runestone?”

She-Ra glanced over and nearly flickered back into Adora in surprise. Pearl was _looking_ at her, or, more specifically, at her muscles. She had her hands clasped under her chin, almost literal sparkles in her eyes. The attention made She-Ra flush with embarrassment. She cleared her throat and said, “Uh, no, I don’t. I’m not Etherian, technically. I’m one of the First Ones, who first settled Etheria. Their magic tech is different than Etheria’s. I’m just…someone who gets to be She-Ra sometimes.”

Pearl was nodding along with politely with every word, not looking like she was absorbing much of anything. Amethyst bumped her hip into Pearl’s knocking her to the side.

“Ignore her, Pearl always goes moony for big, powerful ladies.”

“Amethyst!” Pearl exclaimed, blushing and rubbing her side. 

“What would Bismuth think?” Amethyst asked dramatically. Pearl blushed harder. 

“Bismuth—Bismuth _understands,_ okay?” she hissed.

Amethyst stuck her tongue out at Pearl, grinning. Catra sidled up and leaned against She-Ra’s possessively, glaring at Pearl. She-Ra faded away, leaving Adora in her place. She put a comforting arm around Catra’s waist. Catra relaxed, her glare softening.

Steven glanced between the two parties, assessing something. He opened his mouth to say something, but then Adora heard a voice behind her squeal, “Adora! Did you ask about the giant stone lady yet? These readings are _incredible!_ It’s a whole new type of magic!”

Entrapta joined the group, two different pads held in her hair and a third in her hands. She jabbed away at all three, muttering something about renewable power sources and practical applications of another world's tech.

Glimmer coughed loudly. “Ahem. _Princess_ Entrapta, maybe you would like to greet our gracious hosts for this _diplomatic mission._ ”

Adora held in a snicker. Until this moment, they’d hardly been professional, let alone diplomatic. Entrapta pushed her mask up to her forehead. “Hello!” she said. She passed the two extra pads to her hands and held out her hair to shake with all five of them at once. It used enough hair that she had to lower herself down to the ground. Steven and Connie hesitantly shook Entrapta’s hair. The three Gems just looked baffled. She pushed herself back up to her preferred height with her hair and grimaced. “It’s going to take ages to get this sand out of my hair,” she mused. Catra threw her hands in the air. 

“Finally, someone who understands!”

“Maybe we could take this inside. The house isn’t far from here,” Steven said. He pointed to the giant stone lady.

Entrapta gasped. _“That’s where you live?”_

She grabbed Adora and Glimmer’s arms and started pulling them across the sand. “Come on, let’s go! We have to go there right now so I can _run some tests!”_

Adora let herself be pulled, as did Glimmer, who was laughing helplessly. 

“Thanks for inviting us,” Bow said, like nothing out the ordinary was happening. Steven laughed. “Sure. I gotta say, you guys are really interesting. It’s not often we get outer-space visitors that don’t want to kill us on sight.”

“That sounds terrible,” Bow said earnestly. “But, like, I get it. Horde Prime tried to take over the whole planet and turn all of our people into members of his hive-mind.”

“Huh. We had a bunch of fragmented gems stuck in the center of the earth that almost destroyed everything. Oh, and my mom’s childhood playmate almost poisoned the whole earth. I had to bring it back to life.”

“You have healing powers? So does Adora!”

“Really?” Steven said, looking back at Adora. “I haven’t met anyone else who can. I use my spit.”

“I use my sword,” Adora said awkwardly, suddenly part of the conversation. 

“You’ll have to show me that sometime,” Steven said. “Bow, tell me more about this Horde that tried to take over. Should I be worried?” 

Bow and Steven continued to talk, but Adora was focused on Catra, who had just slipped her hand into Adora’s. Quietly, Adora asked, “are you okay, Catra?”

Catra sighed. “I guess. I don’t love that the Pearl lady was flirting with you. And I’m not sure if I totally trust this world. They’re a little too accepting of us, a little too fast. And don’t you think it’s convenient that the people we met are _so_ compatible with us?”

“What do you mean?”

“Like, everyone has something in common with someone else. You and Steven are like, the chosen ones of your worlds, and Connie is a sword nerd like you. Steven’s got the absent-powerful-mother connection with Glimmer. Even Bow’s got a connection with Steven—they were both adopted. I heard Steven mention something about being raised by the Gems.”

“I’m sorry, I still don’t understand,” Adora admitted.

“It feels…fake, almost. Like we’re in another one of those First One’s temples with the holograms that are too real and show you what you want to see.”

Adora hummed. “I don’t think this is a trick. I will keep my eye out for anything suspicious, though, I promise. And I won’t let Pearl flirt with me anymore. Okay?”

“Okay,” Catra grumbled, but she smiled at Adora softly, the smile that only Adora got to see. 

Adora said, “At least this world doesn’t seem to have a problem with us being together. Remember that one planet? I almost died, not being able to touch you the whole time.”

“That sucked,” Catra agreed. “So that’s one point in favor of this planet. I’m still going to keep an eye out.”

“I would expect nothing less,” Adora said. 

—

Catra surprised herself by relaxing a little, once everyone was settled inside. It helped that Adora had listened to her, and that she had promised to keep an eye out. Not having to be so diligent by herself took a lot of stress off her. Steven, Connie, and the Crystal Gems were fine hosts. Entrapta asked a frightening number of questions, and eventually Steven said, “Actually, let me just get a friend. She knows more about Gem tech than I do.” He ran off and came back a few minutes later with a small green Gem wearing truly horrendous sunglasses. Entrapta pointed at her with her hair and gasped. The tiny Gem gasped and pointed right back.

“What’s going on?” Catra asked under her breath. 

Steven laughed. “Recognition of the self through the other?”

“Their nerd senses picked up on each other, I think,” Glimmer joked. Catra glanced over, skeptical, but Entrapta and the Gem, who Connie whispered was named Peridot, were deep in discussion. Every once in awhile, Entrapta’s voice would creep up to an excited squeal or Peridot would fling silverware with the force of her gestures—she had some kind of metal-manipulation powers, apparently. After a while, Entrapta and Peridot ran from the house, pads held aloft in their hands. Steven leaned out the front window and said, “They’re climbing the temple, for some reason.”

“Better that than raze Little Homeworld to the ground with science experiments,” Connie replied.

“We’ll be lucky to get out of here in the next week,” Catra muttered to her friends.

“Nah, she’ll need to check in with Hordak sometime. We can kidnap her from there, if necessary,” Bow answered. 

Pearl, who had been watching the proceedings with baffled interest, said, “Well, you are all welcome to stay for a few days at least. I admit that I’m taken aback at the idea of aliens we didn’t know about. Where did you come from?”

Adora flushed. “That’s kind of my fault. Etheria spent a thousand years in a pocket dimension, away from any other planets or systems. It was only recently that we were able to return to the right universe.”

“And that’s your fault?” Pearl asked. Adora shrugged. 

“Kinda. The She-Ra before me, Mara, did it to keep Etheria safe.”

“Ah, yes. She-Ra. Any chance she might rejoin us today? I am…fascinated by her. I’m not the scientist that Peridot is, but I do have some minimally-invasive tests I can run, if you don’t mind. I’m especially interested in your sword—I’m quite competent with sword fighting myself but I’ve never seen a blade like that. I’d love to take a closer look.”

Catra stiffened, feeling her tail fluff up. “I’m going to get some fresh air,” she said, dropping from the kitchen stool she was sitting on.

“Catra—” Adora started, but Catra put a hand on her arm. She gave Adora a small smile. 

“It’s okay,” she said lowly. “I’d just rather not see it.”

Adora nodded in understanding. “Okay. I’ll come out and get you when we’re done. Thanks.”

She kissed Catra quickly. Catra did her best not to blush, feeling all the eyes on them. She left the house, bypassing all the stairs with a few leaps from rock to rock, until she landed on the beach. She grimaced—sand. Well, it was better than watching another woman make heart eyes at her girlfriend. Catra put her arms around herself and squeezed. _Jealous._ She didn’t have any reason to be jealous. Adora loved her. Adora would never cheat on her. She _knew_ that. But something in her gut wanted to clutch Adora against her and never let go. Part of her itched to bring her claws out and show Pearl who Adora belonged to. Hot anger and shame bubbled up in her throat, matching each other in intensity, choking her. She didn’t want to be a jealous girlfriend, but any threat to Adora returned her to who she was as a child: protective, desperate to keep Adora with her, preemptively grieving what was still hers. She didn't want to be that hurt little kid anymore. But she didn’t know how to leave her behind. She squeezed her eyes shut, forcing tears away. It was so dumb—crying was even less called-for than her anger.

“Hey, cat girl! You good?” a voice asked behind her. Catra scrubbed the dregs of her tears out of her eyes and whipped around. The purple Gem, Amethyst, stood a few paces away. She put her hands up, half-joking, and said, “Just a question.”

“I’m fine,” Catra snapped.

“Sure,” Amethyst said. She appraised Catra carefully, and then said casually, “do you wanna fight?”

“What?” 

Amethyst shrugged. “It’s been a while since I sparred with anyone. You look like you know your way around a fight.”

Catra thought about it for a second. Anger and shame still churned around in her stomach, and it wasn’t likely to go away by itself. Her fists clenched, the tips of her claws biting into her palms.

“Yeah, alright,” she decided.

Amethyst grinned. “Great. Rules?”

“Don’t care. You?”

“Got a weapon?” Amethyst asked. In response, Catra brought out her claws fully. Amethyst brought out her whip. 

“Works for me,” Catra said. The two circled each other, sizing the other up for a few breathless moments. Amethyst struck first—her weapon had a longer reach, so Catra didn’t want to make the first move and get tangled up in it. Catra dodged easily, hearing the whip whistle past and snap satisfyingly by her ear. While Amethyst was on the backswing, Catra dashed in close and landed a closed-fist punch to her jaw; no claws yet. Amethyst huffed a laugh and put a hand on her face, made a darker purple by the strike. 

“Good one,” she said cheerfully, and then her whip wrapped around Catra’s ankle and she yanked. Catra went down in a heap of fur and limbs. She scrambled to her feet, brushing sand out of her eyes.

“Same,” she spat, along with a mouthful of damp sand. Amethyst laughed and jumped backward, putting some distance between herself and Catra. 

“Round two: go!” she nearly sang. “This time, I’m not going easy on you.”

And then she wound herself up in a tight ball, spinning faster than Catra would have thought possible. Catra figured out what was happening a second before it happened; that gave her just enough time to jump out of the way. Amethyst shot past her. Catra put a hand out and managed to grab the end of the whip. She pulled with all her might and Amethyst was jerked roughly backwards. Catra used the momentum to redirect the Gem into the cliffside. Amethyst landed with a satisfying _crunch._ What Catra didn’t count on was Amethyst grabbing the other end of the whip and slamming her into the cliff as well. Catra shook her head, clearing it, and blinked away a double vision of Amethyst grinning at her. 

“Round three?” she asked. 

“You’re so dead,” Catra growled, and it was on. They traded blows and insults, dodged and connected and pulled apart again, assessing for weakness and their own injuries. With every moment, Catra could feel her anger melting away, turning into adrenaline and even joy. When she managed to jump on Amethyst’s back and knock her over, her growl bubbled out as a delighted laugh. Amethyst laughed and returned the favor. She grabbed Catra by the scruff of her neck and hauled Catra off her back, throwing her roughly to the ground. Catra tried to get up, but it had been a few months since their last serious scrap and she was out of practice. When Amethyst saw Catra was down for the count, she flopped on her back next to her, breathing hard.

“That was great,” Amethyst said, extending her arm. Catra bumped her fist against the proffered fist and said, “It was just what I needed.”

“I figured as much. Wanna talk about it?”

Catra pushed herself on her elbows to look at Amethyst, defensive again. “Why?” she asked suspiciously. 

Amethyst looked at the sky and sighed deeply. She stretched and put her arms behind her head. “Because,” she said, casually, “I know how it feels. To be a scrapper. To want to fight instead of dealing with how you feel.”

“You don’t know anything about me,” Catra snapped.

Amethyst snorted. “We just beat the crap out of each other. I know a lot about you.”

“Like what?”

“Like you’re used to fighting people bigger than yourself. You use your own body weight to take down and overwhelm—you don’t care if you endanger yourself as long as you get your hit in, because you’re counting on the move to keep you safe and buy you time. You strike quickly and skitter back a lot. That tells me you’re used to opponents that will hurt you if you stick around. You do a lot of fancy footwork—you’re trained _and_ talented. You started with a pulled punch until you could tell how hard I was going to go, so I know you like a fair fight. And that’s just from how you fight.”

She glanced over and said dryly, “I, like, also have eyes. I saw how you reacted in the house.”

Catra huffed in annoyance. She took a few minutes to collect her thoughts, not sure if she was going to talk to tell Amethyst to leave her alone. So even she was surprised when she said, “Adora is everything to me. I’m at my best when she’s around. There was a time when we fought on opposite sides and it made me the worst I’ve ever been. Any time something happens—like Pearl—I get scared that I’m losing her and I’ll go back to who I was.”

“That’s rough,” Amethyst said sympathetically. “Did you know that in order for Steven to be born, his mom had to die?”

Catra frowned. “No. Why would I know that? How does that matter?”

“Rose Quartz was the most important person to me. She basically raised me, as much as Gems can be raised. She taught me how to do everything. When she left us, it was like I was a lost, clueless Gem alone in the Kindergarten again. It took me years to get back to myself.”

Amethyst smiled bitterly, resting a hand against her gem. “I got so angry. Everything made me mad. Everything that reminded me of her hurt. I thought I would never recover from losing her.”

Catra didn’t understand everything Amethyst was telling her. She used words Catra had never heard before. But she got the gist.

“But you did, obviously,” Catra said. “Recover.”

“I found Rose in Steven. But by the time I did, I loved him more than I ever loved her. By the time I found her in him, I didn’t want her anymore; I didn’t need her anymore.”

“Are you saying that I need to let Adora go? Find someone else?” Catra asked. Something sour bubbled up in her throat at the thought.

“No,” Amethyst said with a laugh. “I’m saying that Rose was with me the whole time, I was just too mad to realize it. Adora’s always going to love you. You just gotta chill out a little and trust in that.”

“You just met us. How could you possibly know that she’ll always love me?” To Catra’s horror, she heard her voice crack on the question. She turned on her side, facing away from Amethyst. Amethyst answered levelly, “I’ve hung out with Ruby and Sapphire for centuries. I know sappy true love when I see it. Girl, you’ve got it. Don’t hold on to it too tight. It’s always gonna be there.”

“So how do I stop feeling like this?” Catra asked plaintively.

“It’ll take time. You have to have enough proof that I’m right before your brain starts believing it. And you probably have other issues to work out. It’s more than just your relationship with Adora. Right?”

“Right,” Catra agreed sullenly. She’d never been much for Perfuma’s feelings-circles or meditation sessions. Talking to someone, though, without any expectations or requirements….it felt nice. Catra’s chest felt lighter than it had in ages. She felt….happy, in a way she usually only did when Adora was around.

“Steven’s been going to therapy for a few years now,” Amethyst said. “The other gems say they don’t need it, but I can tell they do. I’ve been going too. Human therapists can only help so much, though—he doesn’t even really understand how long I’ve been alive.”

Catra grunted noncommittally. “Not a lot of therapists in space.”

“No, but you’ve got friends. And Adora.”

Catra rolled onto her back, staring up at the stars. Amethyst was right, of course, but she didn’t have to be happy about it.

“Good talk,” Amethyst said decisively. She stood up and brushed herself down. “Speaking of, your girl is on her way over.”

Catra sat up. Adora was a few hundred yards away. She smiled when she saw Catra, waved, and began jogging over to her. Nonchalantly, Amethyst headed back to the house, giving Adora a wave as she passed her.

“Hey!” Adora said, stopping short in front of Catra.

“Hey, Adora,” Catra said lowly. She took Adora’s offered hand and used it as leverage to stand up. Adora frowned. “Did you get into a fight? You’re bleeding.”

Catra touched her cheek, noticing for the first time how sore she was. Tacky blood came away on her fingers. Adora ran her fingers over it.

“What happened?”

“Friendly sparring match with Amethyst,” Catra admitted. Adora shook her head fondly. Wordlessly, she turned into She-Ra and kissed Catra’s injured cheek. Healing magic flowed from her to Catra and Catra felt the cut sealing up. Her sore muscles relaxed and the annoying background pain she’d been feeling melted away. She-Ra’s form shrunk back into Adora, job done.

“Is that really necessary?” Catra asked, cupping Adora’s face in her hands. She leaned their foreheads together.

“Of course. You were hurt,” Adora said, like it was obvious, like it was the simplest thing in the world. 

“I love you,” Catra said. She kissed Adora, chasing away any response she might have said. Right now, Catra didn’t need to hear it back; she just needed it to be said.

“How did your science experiments with Pearl go?”

Adora smothered a giggle. “She-Ra’s sword didn’t like her. She could barely keep hold of it. We might have blasted a hole through the side of the house.”

The last dregs of Catra’s bad mood melted away and she laughed. She took Adora’s hand, kissed her knuckles, and said, “It’s gonna take a few days to fix that. I guess it’s a good thing we like it here.”

“We do?” Adora asked, hope in her voice.

“We do,” Catra said firmly. Adora swung their joined hands between them and they started the walk back to the house, together. 

**Author's Note:**

> i'm sidras-tak on tumblr! come chat!


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